The Candidates 2026 tournament is set to begin on March 28, and it has already been facing the heat. The spotlight is on the controversial Gulf conflict, and the competition is set to be held in Cyprus.
The tournament will take place in Paphos, Cyprus, but there is an ongoing war in West Asia between Iran, the US and Israel. On March 1, a British air base in the country was hit. Fans and some players have expressed concerns.
Meanwhile, FIDE has confirmed that there are no plans to shift the venue. Now, Hikaru Nakamura has added more to the venue controversy. The American GM took to X, pointing out the power outage in parts of the island country, which ‘goes out completely’ and ‘doesn’t come back for an extended period of time’.
Ḧe wrote, “It’s not a good sign when power goes out completely in parts of Cyprus and doesn’t come back for an extended period of time….”
Meanwhile, FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky has stated that there are no plans to change the venue. Speaking to ChessBase India, he said, “Our plans have not changed. We are in the final stages of preparing the Candidates’ Tournament. Of course, we are monitoring the situation. Cyprus is not too far from, let’s say, the war zone or conflict zone, but at the same time, it is not directly involved in any way and is not in a state of war.”
“There is no emergency situation or anything like that. Of course, about ten days ago there were some worrying news, but since then the situation has appeared quite calm.
“But we are, of course, not just hoping that nothing will happen. We are constantly monitoring the situation and also staying in contact with the state authorities who are assisting us with everything related to the tournament,” he added.